A wireless network, such as an 802.11 protocol-based wireless network, includes at least a station (STA) and a wireless access point (AP) interconnected by a distribution system (DS). A STA is also referred to as a wireless client or client device. The client device is associated with a single access point (AP) at a given time but can move between APs as the client device is physically moved and/or determines that another AP offers better operating conditions than its current AP. Conventional STAs rely on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) information from received beacons from available APs to generate a list of available APs sorted by SNR value. Such an approach suffers, however, from multiple deficiencies and may be inaccurate or incomplete resulting in a misleading or less than ideal recommendation when prompting a client device to switch APs.